City tests retail development plan on West Commerce

Updated 7:30 pm, Thursday, December 6, 2012

The city's plan for retail development around West Commerce Street could depend partly on how successfully it displays the corridor's commercial viability at a “place-making” event Saturday.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., food, retail and art vendors from across the city will temporarily set up shop in the 300 block of West Commerce in attempt to draw tourists and local residents to a stretch of downtown once known as a retail and cultural hub.

City planners hope the event will convince skeptical business owners and potential investors that a customer base truly exists in the West Commerce District, an area bordered by Houston Street to the north, Nueva Street to the south, the San Antonio River to the east and Interstate 35 to the west.

“It's an opportunity to promote West Commerce as a retail street for tourists, residents and employees while highlighting some of the improvements we have planned,” said Lori Houston, director of the Center City Development Office.

The event will “re-vision (West Commerce) as the retail street it once was and should become.”

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About a third of retail space remains vacant in the West Commerce District, leading to nearly $48 million that shoppers could be expected to spend in the area, according to a city-commissioned study released last month.

The report suggested that transforming the corridor into a pedestrian-friendly and welcoming retail destination could attract the growing residential crowd and estimated 4,800 employees who live and work in the 0.15-square-mile area.

Businesses also would meet demand from tourists who pass through the district as they travel between Market Square and the River Walk, Houston said.

To demonstrate a “sense of place,” city officials will create wider sidewalks on West Commerce to boost pedestrian traffic, provide on-street parking and host live art demonstrations and several “pop-up shops” along the street.

The Spanish Governor's Palace and The Vistana apartment building will feature other attractions, while shoppers can explore a holiday market at Plaza de Armas.

At either end of West Commerce, visitors can answer a survey about which concepts and vendors they preferred, which should help inform Angela Carral's business plans.

She recently opened Revolucion Coffee + Juice at 7959 Broadway and will offer some beverages at one of the popup shops at the West Commerce event. There, Carral said she will test an idea she's considered.

“We have a lot of customers that ask for juice and tea downtown,” she said. “It makes us a bit nervous to see how well-received we are down there this weekend.

“We operate in a niche market,” said Carral, who noted the organic selections at her coffee shop. “Our customers focus on quality and health, and there's no option like that downtown.”

After the West Commerce project, the city will meet with Commerce Street property owners to discuss improvement projects while working with experts to develop retail recruitment and incentive policies, Houston said.

The district also could organize repeat events to further demonstrate the viability of retail in the area, she added.

This weekend's event represents the city's third partnership with Team Better Block, a Dallas-based urban planning group that designs temporary projects to put revitalization concepts into action.

Andrew Howard, an organizer with Team Better Block, said similar projects turned into permanent shopping and cultural hubs in Dallas and St. Joseph, Mo. And while he hoped attendance will reach 5,000 at the West Commerce event, Howard said success could be measured another way.

“What we found is more impactful is how many new advocates we create for that part of town,” he said. “They'll be new voices to talk about the potential for West Commerce and the Flores (Street) area to revitalize, and how anyone can play a part in it.

“Maybe they haven't had a picture in their mind to go with the concepts of a revitalized West Commerce District,” Howard added. “We're testing retail aspects that may never get off the drawing board, that on paper seems like (they) wouldn't work but in reality creates an irresistible place to visit (and) walk and creates its own market.”